Another week, another Flashpoint post. This time, I’ve gotten around to painting up my Jiralhanae (Brutes). In lore, these boys were often viewed as lesser than the Sangheili (Elites), until a late stage upset put them higher on the totem pole… right before the collapse of the Covenant. Post collapse, they are the leading part of the Banished, the current main villainous faction of the Halo universe. Anyway, they’re big monkey boys who smash real good.

In game, Brutes are high health, below average skill for shooting, and above average in melee. They’re slow, but they bring an automatic extra die in melee and their default attack has knockback, which is exceptionally useful when you want an enemy off an objective.

The Jiralhanae Captain has a jetback and a genuinely good statline both in shooting and melee. I can’t imagine building a list without one, unless you’re bringing Atriox (their legendary leader). They also provide ever vital Tactical to give you more command dice. I could readily see using one of these guys alongside 2-3 Sangheili mercenaries just to help provide them some additional command dice on a respectably dangerous model.

The Chosen Warrior brings Tactical as well, but more importantly has Guarded as a special rule, which prevents the enemy from scoring headshots (criticals). Another very useful model.

Snipers are the definition of a glass cannon. They hit on 4+ (on a D8), making them some of the best shooting in the faction. They lack any armor, though, and are comparatively low health—though, still higher than any normal Spartan. They do get two shields, which only a few models in the faction get in the first place, but overall they are fragile. I equipped mine with a Covenant Carbine, which has Knockback as a skill. He’s a good way of displacing an enemy, or you can leverage him to take advantage of a more dangerous gun to be able to apply threat more flexibly while much of the rest of your team is beating up good guys.

Berserkers are… cost effective. They lack for much in the way of statline or survivability, but they’re relatively cheap. I could see giving one a decent melee weapon just to fill points and be able to throw them at the enemy. Alternatively, leave them bare and use them to soak up fire or tie up an enemy in a melee they don’t want.

I know a warrior with a decent gun isn’t exactly what people picture when they think of Brutes, but I really like this guy. It’s a shame you only get one of him. He isn’t great at shooting, but with Optics on his default gun, he gets an extra dice. As the cheapest model in the faction, I actually struggle to see a list in which you don’t bring him.

I actually did get a game in with these boys, which I won thanks to their easy access to Knockback. I repeatedly kicked my son off the objectives, though I also died a ton. The reality is that a high health pool doesn’t mean much when your opponent spikes. The upcoming balance update in September will give them a bit more survivability to try and help solidify their identity as durable pains in the butt. I greatly look forward to it, because I found their playstyle refreshingly different from the ODST or Spartans.

Another fun painting project down. Next up is painting the official Master Chief model and Atriox himself, so I can get both on the board with my son. He’s already chomping at the bit to try out Master Chief, and Atriox is an absolute beast with a ton of health and serious melee stats. It’ll be a lot of fun. I’m hoping to maybe cook up a simple UNSC vs Banished campaign where we play through a series of missions culminating in a Big Team Battle for all the marbles.

Another project down. Goodness knows what I paint after Halo. Rats? Probably rats.